Sundance Responses
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Ass Backwards | Director Chris Nelson
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Monday, Jan. 21, 11:59pm — Egyptian Theatre, Park City] Ass Backwards is a film that celebrates a certain type of delusion. Its central characters, Kate & Chloe, have created their own brand of reality that’s pretty much disconnected from everyone and everything else. And they’re actually having a great time because of it. I think filmmakers may be similar types of asses. We sacrifice our connection to reality for the mad ride of making a film. There was a point during production where the rest of the world seemed to actually drop away. People who weren’t involved with […]
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Afternoon Delight | Director Jill Soloway
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Monday, Jan. 21, 9:45pm — Eccles Theatre, Park City] I sacrificed the idea of the director’s chair. And all of the other imagery that goes with being in charge. The baseball cap, the megaphone. We shot our film in August of 2012 and I’d say that from mid-May on, I began to feel that I was riding a wave and had almost no control. It’s funny, I interviewed Diablo Cody about Juno for a magazine and when I asked if she was surprised about the success of that film, she said not really—that it immediately had this thing […]
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When I Walk | Director Jason DaSilva
[PREMIERE SCREENING:Monday, Jan. 21, 3:00pm — Temple Theatre, Park City] Other than the sacrifices that you typically expect from an obsessive filmmaker (lack of sleep from creative insomnia, poor eating habits and coffee addiction, loss of friendships due to staying at the editing table for months on end), my biggest sacrifice was this: My privacy. Basically, I opened up my life to the world with my film. I had a hunch that my world was going to get really crazy and I wanted to catch it on film. The problem with that was I was in the film and that led to my […]
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A River Changes Course | Director Kalyanee Mam
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Monday, Jan. 21, 9:00pm — Yarrow Hotel Theatre, Park City] I’ve encountered many challenges in making this film. First and foremost was struggling to survive on very little income, especially with law school loans I still needed to pay off. At times, it was very difficult for my family to understand why I would sacrifice financial security to make films. My mother has often asked me why I can’t use my law degree to practice law, make money, and have a house and a family like everybody else. Filming in extreme hot and humid conditions in Cambodia was […]
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The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman | Director Fredrik Bond
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Monday, Jan. 21, 6:30pm — Eccles Theatre, Park City] I didn’t feel there was any sacrifice involved. On the contrary, knowing how hard it is to get a movie made…I saw every single day (some of the hard ones as well) as a blessing to be working with extremely talented people and be doing what I love. Sundance Responses 2013
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Narco Cultura | Director Shaul Schwartz
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Monday, Jan. 21, 8:30pm — Library Center Theatre, Park City] The sacrifice I made was putting myself in danger again and again. As a 20-year veteran of photojournalism, being in danger was nothing new. What was new, however, was how the making of this film brought others into the mix. My soundman Juan traveled with me everywhere. For him, this was his first time being in a conflict zone. I used to have a recurring nightmare that somehow he would get hurt and I, of course, would be the one forced to tell his father. Every time we would go to Juarez, we […]
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There Will Come a Day | Director Giorgio Diritti
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Monday, Jan. 21, 9:00pm — Egyptian Theatre, Park City] My serenity! Envisioning and working on this film meant putting profound emotions at stake with the desire to strive for meaning and balance in life, obviously more than just in the film itself. And with much physical exertion – it was quite the adventure! My path was parallel to the protagonist, in a dimension of listening and questioning, probation and ongoing research. And I think this represents what being a director means to me: to share a life experience. Because it accompanies me and becomes part of me until […]
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Pit Stop | Director Yen Tan
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Monday, Jan. 21, 2:45pm — Prospector Square Theatre, Park City] I was in psychotherapy for a year before going into production on Pit Stop, mainly to deal with my insecurities and unresolved angst as an artist. By the time we began shooting, I still wasn’t sure if I was fully prepared to tackle the stress, the uncertainty, and the frustration of making another independent film.The most significant sacrifice I had to make then was my mental health. I felt a lot more vulnerable throughout the process, and in hindsight, thought it was a sign of weakness that I […]
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Gideon’s Army | Director Dawn Porter
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Monday, Jan. 21, 2:30pm — Library Center Theatre, Park City] I have a husband and two young children and they will tell you that I missed my share of birthdays and holidays over the three and half years we filmed. Those are sacrifices every filmmaker makes, but added to that for me was a real need to set aside my pride. Filmmaking is my second career and this is my first film – I ended up places I’d never thought I would be – I was traveling to prisons and hanging out in bad neighborhoods and seeing all […]
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American Promise | Directors Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Monday, Jan. 21, 6:00pm — Temple Theatre, Park City] The art of filmmaking took a strange twist when we turned the camera on ourselves as well as on our loved ones. We found ourselves constantly questioning our observational and self-reflexive approach to the craft, particularly when it conflicted with our parenting ideals. As parents, we were concerned about our son’s socio-emotional development and, therefore, our impulse was to turn off the camera early and often. Yet, more often than not, the decision to turn off the camera clearly hampered the quality and emotional depth contained in the first […]
